Gas turbine



; Patented Nov. 26, 1946 s [PATENT OFFICE GAS TURBINE.

. Arthur H. Matthews, Lake Be'auport, Quebec,

Canad Application July 5, 1944, Serial No, 542,574

2 Claims; (01.60-41) expensive metals and in which provision is made foradequate cooling with minimum loss of power and efliciency. a

The commercial develope ment oi cheap and efllcient gas-turbines,especially in the smaller sizes required for general use, has beenretarded by reason of the fact that the best gas-turbines heretoforeproposed must be constructed of reltively rare and expensive heatresistant metals or alloys in order to withstand, for any considerableperiod, the destructive action of the high operating temperaturescharacteristic of such turbines. Gas-turbines constructed of ordinarymetals and equipped with heat-dissipating water jackets in accordancewith previous'proposals do not have the operating speed, efiiciency,low-cost characteristics and other essential requisites necessary tojustify wide-scale commercial production thereof, especially in thesmaller sizes suitable for general use in variousfields in which othertypes of relatively small power plants are now being used.

An important feature of the gas-turbine pro vided in accordance with myinvention is '"that the rotor is of simple design and is free of vanes,buckets, or other resistance-increasing projections which, as employedinprior types of gas turbines, tend to decrease both the operating speedand the power output.

Another feature of the invention consistsin the provision of a generallyimproved gas-turbine in which the use of ordinary metals is madefeasible by the use of water jets which serve both as a cooling mediumand as a motive fluid.

A still further feature of the invention consists in the provision of ajet-propelled or reactiontype gas-turbine in which the rotor comprises asimple disk-shaped element provided with a peripheral channel into whichjets of motive fluid are directed from nozzles or jets carried by astator casing in which the rotor operates. at least one side wall ofsaid channel being provided with discharge openings through which themotive fluid-is supplied to said channel in the form of jets whichimpinge against stationary buckets or vanes carried by the statorcasing.

Other characteristic features and advantages of my invention will bemadeapparent by the following detailed description of the accompanyingdrawing, in which- Fig. 1 is a vertical sectional view takensubstantially along the line i-| of Fig. 2: and

upper half of stator-casing t to thereby effect Fig. 2 is a sectionalview taken substantially along the line 2-2 of Fig. 1.

In this drawing the rotor and the stator-casing elements of my improvedgas-turbine are respectively indicated at 5 and 8.

The rotor 5 is shown as a simple disk fixed to a shaft 1 which rotatesin bearings 8 carried by opposite side walls of the stator-casing't. Theperiphery of the rotor is recessed to provide an annular channel 8. intowhich jets of fluid are directed from nozzles or jet passages it, ii andI2 formed in a removable section ta of the stator casing 6. At least oneside wall of the channel 9 is provided with discharge ports M throughwhich jets of the motive fluid suppliedto said channel are dischargedagainst suitable stationary vanes or buckets i5 arranged around thejet-reaction operation of the rotor. The motive fluid is discharged fromstator-casing 6 through the exhaust outlet i1,

Part of the motive fiuide supplied to the channel d of rotor 5 compriseshot products .of combustion resulting from ignition of a combustiblefuel mixture with a combustion chamber it provided in the removablecylinder section ta. The

fuel mixture is supplied to chamber 89 through 9. Tesla" valve 2!) andis ignited by a spark plug 2! or other suitable igniter. The resultingproducts of combustion escape from chamber i9 through jet passage it andare directedinto the rotor channel 9.

Another part of the motive fluid supplied to the rotor consists of steamformed by vaporization of Jets of water which are directed-into therotor channel 9 by the Jet passages ii and it. The

, cooling action of these jets of water is sufflcient to preventheat-destruction of ordinary-metal used in the construction of theturbine.- The water is preferably supplied to the jet passages ii and 02through Tesla" type valves indicated at 22 and 23.

The peripheral wall of the stator casing t is provided with a series ofexpansion chambers 25 into which the steam resulting from vaporizationof the water jets directed against the rotor is I expanded to'increasethe momentum imparted to the rotor. I

The hot products of combustion directed into the rotor channel 9 bynozzle it constitute the main motive fluid which drives and heats therotor. The water injected through the jet passages I l and I2 servesprimarily as a cooling medium but, when converted into steam asdescribed herein, also serves as a motive fluid and enables 3 theturbine to be operated efflciently with a smaller amount of combustiblefuel than would otherwise be required.

The combustion chamber I9 is provided with a removable cover or head 26formed with a water' jacket 21 which is connected, by pipe 28, towaterjet valve 22. Cooling water is supplied to jacket 21 by a suitablesupply pipe (not, shown) and passes from thence through pipe 28 andvalve 22 to water-Jet passage II. The valve 23 of water-jet passage l2may be similarly connected I claim:

1. A gas-turbine comprising a rotor provided with a peripheral channelhaving discharge ports in one side wall thereof, a stationary casingenclosing said rotor and provided with jet-passages through whichexpansible motive fluid is directed into said channel and stationaryvanes or buckets in said casing located opposite the ported side of saidchannel and positioned to receive the impact of jets of motive fluiddischarged from said channel through said ports.

, 2. A gas-turbine as set forth in claim 1, in which said rotorcomprises a simple, substantially diskshaped member having its peripheryrecessed to provide said channel.

ARTHUR H. MATTHEWS.

